Our baby chicks are 8 weeks old now. We've given some away and ordered a few more to arrive on June 1st from our local feed store. I just couldn't resist ordering some Auraucanas. We ordered a red sex-link rooster with our first baby chicks this spring and unfortunately he found the only spot that he could squeeze out to freedom from the chicken coop. He met an untimely death, thanks to a dog. So I've ordered another rooster to come with the Auraucanas.
The ducks are almost fully feathered now. They are just shy of two months old and three of the four have a pretty good "quack" these days. They are super friendly and love their kiddie pool. I really enjoy their company in the yard. I had no idea how much personality they would have. I believe we will eat a duck egg in the future but maybe not any ducks.
As Jason wrote last time...I couldn't resist purchasing three turkeys from the feed store. I really need to quit going in there...I get talked into any cute little critter. They are fascinating too and it's the first thing I've purchased without a lot of prior research. I'm happy to say they are thriving under the same conditions as a baby chick. They seem to have more personality than chickens and are not the least bit afraid. They actually like to "spend time" with humans...or at least hear you talking in the same room. Jason really wants fresh turkey this year for Thanksgiving. So we will see how that turns out.
I had my first lesson in slaughtering chickens last weekend. Not too bad for a girl who grew up in the suburbs! I did not have any problems and I've spent all week pretty proud of myself for learning a new skill. We put a few in the freezer and I'm looking forward to trying "fresh" chicken sometime early next week.
The last item I will plant outside in the vegetable garden this spring/summer will probably be some winter melons. It's hot in Florida now and we are getting to the time of year where a lot of outside work is just hard to do. Winter melons grow well in very hot humid environments and need about 150 days to mature. They keep well for several months and are excellent in winter soups and stir-fried. We will harvest all summer from what we've planted now and in Florida we are lucky enough to have time for a second garden in the fall. Also a winter garden is very easy too. So we will continue to add pictures and write articles as we go.